Yardwaste Collection
City of Albany residents are NOT permitted to rake or place loose yard waste into the city streets for collection.
Instead, the City of Albany collects yard waste from April 15th through December 1st (or the first snowfall, whichever occurs first). The yard waste must be placed in biodegradable bags and/or bundled for collection at the curb.
Yard waste is collected curbside on regular trash collections days.
For more information about the yard waste collection program please refer to the dropdowns below.
Why should I recycle my yard waste?
Raking yard waste into the streets creates an unnecessary burden on the street sweepers and results in yard waste going to the landfill. At the landfill yard waste breaks down more slowly and results in the creation of harmful methane gas which is a leading contributer to Climate Change.
When yard waste is properly collected and brought to a compsoting facility it can be turned into finished compost. The finished compost can then be distributed to residents for use in their home gardens.
In the City of Albany, residents may be issued a fine if their yard waste is not properly bagged and bundled for collection. Please see City of Albany Code, Section 313-4B(2).
What types of yard waste ARE accepted?
Below is a list of materials that we accept for curbside pickup.
- Glass clippings
- Leaves
- Branches and brush
- Christmas Trees
What types of materials are NOT accepted?
Below is a list of materials that should NOT be placed with your yard waste.
- Garbage or recyclables including any paper, plastic, glass or metal items.
- Stumps
- Logs
- Entire trees
- Stones
- Bricks
- Excessive amounts of dirt
- Decorations, tinsel or lights
How do I prepare my yard waste for collection?
Grass clippings and smaller yard waste - Please put your grass clippings and other smaller yard waste materials in biodegreadable bags* and place the bags curside on your designated collection day.
*The biodegradable bags do not need to be purchased from the City of Albany.
Larger branches and brush - Larger branches and brush should be bundled and tied together with non-synthetic twine. Please do not use tape, metal or plastic twine to bundle your materials.
Christmas trees - Please remove decorations, tinsel, lights and all other holiday items from the trees. Do not place the trees in plastic bags.
Where can I purchase biodegradable yard waste bags?
Biodegradable yard waste bags can be purchased at most home improvement and hardware stores such as Home Depot and Lowes.
The City of Albany also has biodegradable bags for purchase. The cost is $2 for three (3) bags.
The bags can be purchased from the following locations:
1. Department of General Services 7:00 am – 5:00 pm (M-F)
1 Richard J. Conners Blvd. (518-427-7480)
2. Capital Hills Golf Course 9:00 am – 5:00 pm (M-F) &
8:00 am – 4:00 pm (Sat-Sun) * Open Seasonally
65 O’Neil Road (518-489-3526)
3. Treasurer’s Office 8:30 am – 5:00 pm (M-F)
City Hall (518-434-5035)
What happens to the yard waste after it is collected?
Properly bagged and bundled yard waste collected at the curb will be transported to the City of Albany's Yard Waste Composting Facility to be turned into finished compost.
Once the yard waste arrives at the facility it is ground up and placed into 3-4 foot tall rows called "windrows". The windrows are periodically moved around to add oxygen to the yard waste to help with the decomposition process. Once the yard waste has gone through the decomposition process it turns into a dirt like material. The dirt like material is then put through a screening process to create a finished compost.
The finished compost is available for free to all City of Albany residents for use in their home gardens.
The City of Albany Yard Waste Composting Facility
The City of Albany owns and operates it own yard waste composting facility located next to the Department of General Services building at 1 Richard J. Connors Blvd.
The facility is generally open from April 13 through December 1 (or the first snowfall whichever occurs first).
For more information about the yard waste composting facility click here